Morgan Stanley Investment Management Launches New Institutional Share Class for US Mutual Funds

Morgan Stanley Investment Management has created a new institutional share class aimed at increasing transparency and lowering fees for defined contribution plans and other institutional platforms.  These Class IS shares have no distribution, shareholder service or sub-transfer agency payments and are intended primarily for retirement plans with more than $250 million in assets.  Class IS shares are also available to eligible investors who meet an initial investment minimum of $10 million.  Eighteen Morgan Stanley funds are now available through IS shares.

“At Morgan Stanley Investment Management, we look to offer all of our shareholders the right combination of funds, share classes and pricing.  Now, we have refined our institutional offerings with the new IS, or super institutional, share class to help our institutional clients more easily meet their platform design needs.  This new share class provides the greatest transparency for investors on the costs of investment management within their plan.  We encourage plan sponsors to discuss with their record keepers or plan administrators whether the IS share class is suitable for the structure of their retirement plan,” said Paul Price, Global Head of Distribution for Morgan Stanley Investment Management’s Long-Only Business.  “We are proud of the work we have accomplished to bring this state-of-the-art share class to our clients.”

“Morgan Stanley Investment Management has always offered a dynamic family of funds led by world-class investment managers.  Our IS share class enhances flexibility and transparency and will create ease-of-use for institutional investment platforms, and these advances will ultimately benefit the plan participants who use Morgan Stanley funds to help meet their own investment objectives,” said Arthur Lev,  Head of the Long-Only Business for Morgan Stanley Investment Management.

Morgan Stanley Investment Management, together with its investment advisory affiliates, has over 550 investment professionals around the world and $347 billion in assets under management or supervision as of June 30, 2013.  Morgan Stanley Investment Management strives to provide outstanding long-term investment performance, service and a comprehensive suite of investment management solutions to a diverse client base, which includes governments, institutions, corporations and individuals worldwide.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is a leading global financial services firm providing a wide range of investment banking, securities, investment management and wealth management services.  The Firm’s employees serve clients worldwide including corporations, governments, institutions and individuals from more than 1,200 offices in 43 countries.  For further information about Morgan Stanley, please visit www.morganstanley.com.

All investments involve risks, including the possible loss of principal. In addition, there is no assurance that any Portfolio will achieve its investment objectives. Portfolios are subject to market risk, which is the possibility that the market value of securities owned by the Portfolio will decline. Accordingly, an investor can lose money by investing in a Portfolio.

Please consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses of a Portfolio carefully before investing. The prospectus contains this and other information about the Portfolio. To obtain a prospectus, contact your financial professional or download one at morganstanley.com/im. Please read the prospectus carefully before investing. 

Morgan Stanley Distribution, Inc.

Media Relations Contact: Matt Burkhard, 212.761.2444